Lessons From History

Lessons from the past.
Great deeds of great men of history.
Reflections on historical and current events.
Political philosophy.

[Lessons From History @Lessons_History]

The importance of a noble and patriotic ruling elite: Lessons from the Roman Republic

All societies in history have had a ruling elite. Some elites are overtly in power while, others are covertly running things behind the scenes. According to Robert Michels’ iron law of oligarchy, this phenomenon is inevitable in any organization or society of a substantial size and complexity. Considering this reality, it is in our interest to have an elite that is at least partially concerned about the common good, that which benefits society as a whole. In this short essay, I will use famous examples from the Roman Republic to illustrate how this is possible and what happens when an elite loses this aspiration and becomes entirely self-interested.

All humans are innately self-interested. It is a key aspect of human nature which enables us to survive. Members of an elite, like all human beings, are always to a great extent motivated by their own interests. Hence, a ruling elite will always seek to increase or at least preserve its power within a society since it is in its collective self-interest and in the self-interest of each of its members to do so. However, elites serve a beneficial purpose when they also care about the common good and the prosperity of society. This concept is well encapsulated in the French term noblesse oblige, nobility obliges, which posits that members of the nobility must fulfill certain public responsibilities towards members of lower classes and put their abilities in pursuit of the common good to deserve their privileges.

The easiest path to ensure that an elite will serve this positive function is to align the elite’s self-interest with the common good. The Roman Republic achieved and maintained this alignment for many centuries, and this channelization of the Roman elites towards territorial conquest was one of the main factors behind Rome’s impressive expansion. The Roman political system harnessed the aristocratic elites’ ambitions and desire for honour and fame into something beneficial to the state. This was done through competition for political office, with the pinnacle of a political career being election to one of the two annual consulships. The consuls were also the main military leaders of Rome, and many saw their success as consuls as depending on conquest. Roman leaders who achieved outstanding military successes could be awarded a triumph. The triumph was the greatest honour a Roman could earn, and it would greatly enhance his auctoritas (authority/prestige). Rome was an aggressively expansionist state and politicians viewed territorial expansion as the main avenue to both enhancing their auctoritas and contributing to Roman society. The Roman aristocracy of the Early and Middle Republic was therefore very patriotic and had a vested interest in fostering the common good and the prosperity of Rome. Furthermore, this competition within the elite for honours fueled Rome’s conquest of the Mediterranean world and gave rise to tremendous figures such as Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, Marcus Furius Camillus, and Scipio Africanus.

I will now describe three inspiring feats of patriotism by the Roman elite which are emblematic of this period. There are many others that are worthy of mention, but I decided to pick these three since they best represent the sacrifices Roman aristocrats were willing to make for the state. The first one is the devotio of two Roman consuls, a father and a son both named Publius Decius Mus. The devotio was a Roman religious vow publicly sworn to the gods by a Roman general to charge alone into the enemy line and sacrifice his own life in exchange for victory. These two devotiones were vividly described by Livy in his History of Rome. Publius Decius Mus the elder’s devotio in 340 BC at the Battle of the Vesuvius inspired the Romans to defeat a large coalition of Latins, Campanians and other Italic peoples. His son, Publius Decius Mus the younger, seeing that his army was being defeated by a coalition of Samnites and Gauls at the Battle of Sentinum in 295 BC, decided to emulate his father’s deed. He performed a devotio dedicated to the Gods of the underworld and charged alone into the Gallic line. His heroic death and feat of piety is said to have inspired his men so much that it turned the tide of the battle, resulting in a devastating Roman victory. The devotio epitomizes the willingness of the Roman aristocracy of this period to die for Rome.

The second feat of patriotism took place during the First Punic War (264-241 BC), a war between Rome and Carthage over control of Sicily. During the war, Rome had built two massive fleets to defeat the Carthaginians, but they had both been destroyed by storms. Polybius explains how exhausted the Romans were when they decided to build a third fleet to finally win the war:
However, Rome’s treasury was empty. Rome’s leading citizens decided to truly demonstrate their devotion to the cause and funded an entire new fleet out of their own pockets:
This new fleet enabled Rome to defeat the Carthaginian fleet at the Battle of the Aegates in 241 BC, cutting off the Carthaginian land forces in Sicily from supplies and forcing Carthage to sue for peace. This new fleet had been decisive, and its construction had only been made possible by the tremendous risk taken by Rome’s elite in funding it from private funds. Had the fleet been sunk like the previous two fleets, these aristocrats would have not been repaid by the state and would have lost a tremendous amount of money. The elite had put the interest of Rome above its own immediate financial interest, which is laudable.

The third example is the Battle of Cannae in 216 BC. This key battle of the Second Punic War between Rome and the great general Hannibal saw another gigantic sacrifice by the Roman elite. Rome famously suffered a catastrophic defeat, losing over 50,000 killed and thousands of captured. Among the dead, Rome lost a consul, Lucius Aemilius Paullus, a proconsul, Gnaeus Servilius Geminus, 80 senators and 200 equites(ranked just below the senatorial class). Considering that the size of the senate at the time was between 300 and 500 senators, between one fourth to one sixth of all senators died at Cannae. This demonstrates the great extent to which the Roman elite was willing to fight and die for Rome.

As Rome rapidly conquered much of the Mediterranean world during the second century BC, its elite became increasingly corrupt. Rome had plundered its newly conquered territories, enslaved large populations and extracted vast resources, which had flown back to Rome. Most of this wealth went to the senatorial elite, which made it incredibly rich. With such wealth came an endless desire for more wealth, which corrupted the aristocracy. This corruption was most notorious during the Jugurthine War (112–106 BC). Rome waged this war against King Jugurtha of Numidia, a Berber kingdom located in North Africa. Jugurtha bribed many senators in the events leading to this war and during the war itself. The senate had become so corrupt that according to Sallust, Jugurtha declared that Rome was “a venal city, and would soon perish, if it could but find a purchaser!" The leading citizens of Rome were by that point putting their personal interests above those of the Roman Republic, which enabled Jugurtha to drag on this war for six years.

Societies start decaying when elites abandon these higher goals and become solely interested in their own enrichment and perpetuation at the expense of the common good. The Roman elite became increasingly focused on enriching itself and preserving its power at all costs. Although the Patrician class had fought for its own interests against those of the plebeians during the Conflict of the Orders (500 BC to 287 BC), it had always been willing to put aside these internal conflicts for the benefit of the state in periods of crisis. Throughout the Early and Middle Republic, members of the Roman elite were motivated by their own self-interests, but these were generally subordinated to or aligned with the interests of the state. The situation gradually changed throughout the end of the Middle Republic and selfishness replaced the moderate self-interest of the ruling class. The interests of the elite were still somewhat aligned with those of the Republic, but the elite had become so wealthy that it had weakened the loyalty and noble character of its members. This corruption also affected the political system and Rome’s institutions, which accelerated the descent of the Republic into civil wars and allowed the emergence of Sulla, Caesar and Augustus.

To conclude, the Roman Republic functioned well so long as its elite was patriotic, noble, and relatively uncorrupt. In this essay, I tried to demonstrate that for a society to prosper its elite must positively channel its energy towards something greater than its own interests. Once it ceases to do so and becomes selfish at the expense of the common good, a society is doomed to experience decline.

Translations:
-Histories. Polybius. Evelyn S. Shuckburgh. translator. London, New York. Macmillan. 1889. Reprint Bloomington 1962.
-Sallust. The Jugurthine War. Rev. John Selby Watson, M.A. New York and London. Harper & Brothers. 1899.

[Lessons From History @Lessons_History]

@HabsNation2024 @ivandemigoal He hasn't proven he's a top 6 guy at this point, more of a middle six player. He's more of what they already have.

[Lessons From History @Lessons_History]

@HabsNation2024 @ivandemigoal He's not a centre in the NHL. He plays wing. Not a big upgrade, and we didn't want to take the cap dump that came with him.

[ThinkingWest @thinkingwest]

Rule by elites is inevitable.

From ancient Greek city-states to modern nation-states, all societies are steered by the decisions of an elite few.

Here’s why “power to the people” is a myth…🧵

[Lessons From History @Lessons_History]

@MemoryMedieval Yue Fei

[Big Serge @witte_sergei]

Since it’s the anniversary of Caesar’s death, if you want a book on the decay of the republic and the victory of Caesarism in Rome, do not waste your time with Tom Holland or (God forbid) Mary Beard. Go for Syme’s “Roman Revolution.” I know @Peter_Nimitz also likes this book.

[Lessons From History @Lessons_History]

@witte_sergei @Peter_Nimitz It’s a bit outdated, but it’s a monumental achievement and one of the finest accounts of the fall of the Republic and the establishment of the Principate.

[Big Serge @witte_sergei]

The Iliad literally describes Odysseus wearing a kino leather helmet adorned with boar tusks, but Hollywood can never resist the siren song of the generic ancient broom helmet. This helmet is like cocaine to costume designers.

[Lessons From History @Lessons_History]

@nonregemesse I don't like the helmet.

[Lessons From History @Lessons_History]

@nonregemesse I like Echoes of the past.

[Lessons From History @Lessons_History]

@cirnosad How many?

[Lessons From History @Lessons_History]

@cirnosad I like your contributions, but I think you should be less emotional and a little more detached from what is happening. I observe extreme mood swings and complete 180 degrees in terms of assessment/outlook occurring every few hours/days depending on the latest news.

[Lessons From History @Lessons_History]

@DD_Geopolitics FAFO

[Lessons From History @Lessons_History]

@thesiriusreport Not an ICBM. Likely RS-26 with no payload or conventional warhead.

[Lessons From History @Lessons_History]

@NapoleonBonabot Lepidus.

[Lessons From History @Lessons_History]

@TheELongWave Would that drop be in nominal or real prices?

[Armchair Warlord @ArmchairW]

What's that reason?

Well, the early Republic was a nation in arms that could mobilize significant amounts of its population and expect them to fight and fight well for the glory of Rome. Its leaders could count on the loyal support of the people and the military at all times.⬇️

The Empire could do none of this.

The Roman Empire was not a nation in arms. The Imperial Roman Army was a professional force that routinely intervened in Roman politics at the highest levels - and routinely had to be bribed into submission by Imperial claimants to the ruin of the treasury. The Roman Empire - and particularly the Late Roman Empire after the good times of the 1st-2nd centuries AD had receded - had a degree of coup-proofing (and plotting!), internecine paranoia, and rent-seeking behavior from the military that would have made Scipio's head spin.

Over time, and particularly as the economy worsened and endless military rebellions and coup plots became a luxury the Roman state could not afford, this corroded readiness and resulted in a military establishment that was less than the sum of its parts. As such the Late Empire eventually ended up paying ruinous amounts to raise middling-size armies of dubious loyalty to the State.

Tied directly to the above, the Roman Empire could not easily mobilize significant amounts of its population. For starters, much of the population was made up of slaves whose loyalty was as dubious as their fitness for combat - and memory of Spartacus and the Servile Wars lasted for a long, long time. Free Roman citizens did not generally possess arms and armor, nor the skills to use them as their ancestors had, and needed to be equipped and trained at public expense. And the late Roman elite were (with the exception of an increasingly separate group of elite soldiers) decadent civilians, far from the aristocratic warriors of the Republican upper-class.

Where a hundred Republican men pulled off the street would probably self-organize into a combined-arms unit with its own leadership, a hundred Imperial men in similar circumstances were a mob. Thus, critically, the Empire had little in the way of a military reserve - the professionals were the army, and if they were killed in battle another professional force had to be expensively raised and time-consumingly trained to take their place.

Thus we see the two weaknesses of the Late Roman Army - an army that was far smaller than it should have been given the ostensible resources of the State, and one which could not easily recover from losses.

As an aside, it's remarkable the extent to which Rome underwent its own Competency Crisis as it lurched onwards through decadence to final collapse. Things their ancestors routinely accomplished turned into Imperial megaprojects, and finally into impossibilities as Roman society slowly consumed itself.

[Lessons From History @Lessons_History]

@squatsons Ok thanks. If this was within Tornado S range, why not use that instead to save Iskander M for longer range strikes?

[Lessons From History @Lessons_History]

@HankRearden_37 @witte_sergei Exactly.

[Lessons From History @Lessons_History]

@squatsons Syrsky is a genius. He's sacrificing the defense of Donbass for a PR offensive that is turning into another meat and equipment grinder for the Ukrainians.

This will hasten the collapse of the Ukrainian army.